Biosensor and Assays for Rapid Detection of Antibiotic Resistance

Abstract

A plasmid includes a reporter and an inducible promoter that enables transcription of the reporter in the presence of one or more products of β-lactam antibiotic activity, wherein transcription of the reporter produces a signal. The plasmid may be incorporated into an assay to detect β-lactamase activity by reducing the signal in the presence of the β-lactamase, or β-lactamase inhibition by producing the signal in the presence of the β-lactamase inhibitor. A cell may be transformed with the plasmid to provide a biosensor cell for assays and kits used to detect, assess, and/or characterize activity of a compound as a β-lactamase inhibitor, or to detect, assess, and/or characterize a β-lactamase producing organism.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.